changed my life

Chronic Illnesses Are Chronic..

/ Shannon DeRose / 2 Comments

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So yesterday I felt so bad that at moments I was worried more than normal about my health. I was having a bad day, but the day before that I had four allergy attacks that led to my eyes not wanting to be used. The day before that I slept for 15 hours straight.

I have Chronic illnesses, and for some people seem to not understand that chronic which means daily, hourly, momently. It doesn’t stop. Its like having anything when you get diagnosed with a chronic illness it’s like getting a tattoo, you really can never get rid of it. There are sometimes surgeries you can do to make it go away, but they are lots of money and sometimes you end up getting scarred, good thing about tattoos is you get to choose what the tattoo is and if you want it in the first place. A chronic Illness has no choose. It shows up on its own and it’s happy to be there.

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CHRONIC.. Means daily, it does mean I get to have some good days, but most of my good days are thanks to the medicine I took or are due to the fact that the day before I slept for 18 hours or it’s a weird random thing that happens out of no where. Most of the time when people see me I’m having a good day, because on my bad days I don’t normally get out.

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So even if i look good, if I act fine, I could be in horrid pain. Its not all in my imagination. I’ve heard that one a lot, that’s not it. I have problems, my diseases are slowly making me very ill and unable to do as much as I want, but I enjoy my life.

And if you see me enjoying my life it doesn’t mean I’m better. It doesn’t even mean I’m having a good health day, but I could just be having a good day. I am not healthy at all. But I’m happy.

You can be slowly dying doesn’t mean I have to see things as sad or bad. But instead I see them as good, but sometimes I feel like if I look happy to some they see it as I’m wonderful and healed but I’m not. I’m still ill. I still have a CHRONIC illness.

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Even on good days. The Illnesses are still there. They don’t go away.

Chronic means that it’s not going to be cured anytime soon, that you’re going to be in pain. That you are going to be in and out of hospitals sometimes, it means that doctors offices and blood draws are another part of your life. It means that when you wake up you have to take time to get out of bed. It means taking a shower can make you pass out if you aren’t careful. It means food can make you sick or even kill you. It means that I’m chronically sick, I’m ill, on good days I’m still ill.

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I feel like people don’t want to accept the fact that being ill is chronic and that I’m never going to get better without a cure and at this moment this cure isn’t real. It isn’t happening. So for the time being I’ll be living with chronic illnesses, so daily, I will be living with chronic illnesses…

This has been my randomness on Sunday…

Shayweaseling it…!!

The Trail Less Traveled is Full of Spiders

/ Shannon DeRose / Leave a comment

I woke up yesterday, and made up my mind that I was going on a walk. A good long one. I was going to do this.

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I packed my backpack with my purse a camera and some water. And I left on my walk. I had a rebound headache from the migraine I had the day before, my back hurt from my kyphosis, my allergies started to attack as soon as I step outdoors, but I was going on this walk that was for sure, I walked through the park I had walked to.

There was this trail that lead off the main trail I was on and it made me think about how the trails that are less traveled are normally full of spiders and bugs and sometimes they have animals that will attack you. I took this path because it seemed cool but I soon turned around when I saw the huge spider in the middle of the trail. But in life I don’t get to turn around, I either have to walk through the spider web or I just have to stand there in front of it, because turning around in life is something you can’t do, you can’t retrace your steps, you can’t go back to how yesterday was.

But you can stand in front of the spider or you can figure out a way to go around it, or you can walk through the spider web even through its gonna be hard to get that web off you and you might even get a spider on you. Or you can do what I normally do, grab something and pull the spider web down. And then walk through it.

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You know when you have any problem in life, if it be sickness, a death, a choice you have to make whatever when these things show up its almost like you can stand and stare at the spider or the problem or you can walk through it, you know its going to be bad but you can go through it.

Sometimes in life I feel like we go through almost blindly we don’t know we are walking on a path we sometimes get lost in the woods, but somehow we get back on the path after a while and sometimes its a different path then we were on before.

When I first became ill, I was lost in the woods for a year, I was sick and I was horrified, but I found this path about a year ago, and it was one I had never been on, So I took this path and I followed it mindlessly as the doctors and nurses told me they didn’t have all the answers, I then found some people along the way on the same path different parts, I found people like Aileen and Macy who had illnesses too, they let me rant about stuff and they had me laughing.

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This path that us spoonies take is one thats very strange to most people in the world mainly because they’ve never seen it. But through all the trees and all the daisies and through all the spider webs we handle this trail is amazing.

The sun shines so bright when it hits that one spot, and you start to like all the trees and you start to find things that make you happy, When you’re sick you find happiness in simple things, you don’t need everything you just want little things. Like those five dollar cookies or that lipstick or makeup or that one mask you wanted that was five dollars more than you wanted to spend.

I have walked through black widow spider webs that then sent me into anaphylaxis I have walked in the rain but the trees they made the rain less… This trail or road less traveled is full of spiders and ants and bees but its full of really rare beautiful things that on the road that is more so traveled they have beat to the ground because so many people have walked on them. I’m not saying its better I’m saying its different.

I know life is hard for everyone in different ways, everyone struggles with different things but every once in a while when a spider is in my way and I fall to the ground horrified of the spider, thats when I miss out but when I grab a stick and tear down that spider web, I know I did something.

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Its not easy but it never will be and I think part of me is becoming okay with that. I’m partly happy to be on this road thats been so hard to live…

Well… This has been Wesday the day where I rant about whatever it is that I please!!

 Come back on Friday for Shay-De foodie Friday where I give you recipes for food and on Sunday which is total randomness…

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  Shayweaseling it!

Saint Anything..

/ Shannon DeRose / 2 Comments

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On a Tuesday in the winter of 2007 I went to the library with my papa, it was my home away from home. The Librarian who knew me by name told me I should read this book called Dreamland, By Sarah Dessen. I took this book home, and sat it in front of me. I had gotten four books that day, along with Dreamland, I just looked at this book, I wondered where this book would take me. So as any good reader does. I threw myself into the book, and when I came up for air three hours later, I was in love, with the story, the way the book played out. I finished the book and when I went back to the library that friday I went over and searched for any other books by this author Sarah Dessen, A book sat on the shelf, and I felt almost as if it called out to me, which I know makes me sound crazy, but I picked up a book called Just Listen.

I took this book home and threw myself into it. And I never came up for air. It was amazing, I felt as if I had known Annabelle and we were friends. Like everything she was saying was thoughts running through her head. when I finished the book. I sat for a very long time. I couldn’t get it out of my head. This book changed the way I had thought about somethings. I was amazed and still am by this book.

From then on I read Sarah Dessen’s books each one meaning something to me. Each one taking a part of me and making me better. When I saw Saint Anything was coming out I was amazed, I couldn’t’t wait. I was so excited I preorder the book I waited and then.. I was told it was back ordered, which sucked, but anyway..

I know when Sarah Dessen writes a book its not just going to be good, its going to change something inside you, it’ll make you think, feel, believe, and have way too many emotions the books she writes are hearts souls and you feel by the end of the book that you know this person.

Like they are your friend.

So as I still wait for Sarah Dessen’s new book, I know it’ll be amazing, because they always are. Sarah Dessen is one of my favourite authors and a hilarious person to follow on twitter, she is amazing. I love the books she writes and I love the way she writes them.

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So this has been Surprise Tuesday!! Surprise its Tuesday which today means that Saint Anything came out and I still don’t have it. Go read it and follow Sarah Dessen on twitter because she is fantastic and buy her books and follow her everywhere else too.

  Shayweasel out!